Has anyone hired a motorhome in America or Canada?
I am looking to hire a motorhome in America or Canada. Any suggestions or advice on this p!ease?
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It was a lot of years ago, 2001 to be precise. We did it all independently. Flights, hotels, sites and MH hire, as it worked out much less than a package. No idea if that is still the case.
In those days much of it was done on the phone rather than the internet. These days I expect it would be much simpler. We booked the sites, as we were only going for just over two weeks and it was around an American Holiday time, which we were told would be busy. In the event it was 3 weeks after 9/11 the Americans weren't traveling and sites were half empty.
We booked three nights in a Boston hotel for when we arrived, using public transport to get to it. Whilst we were doing our sightseeing we made contact with the hire firm and they sorted out a taxi to pick us up from the hotel and take us to get the van. They sorted the same to the airport when we dropped it off. We paid for the taxis of course, it just meant they organised them.
All in all a very enjoyable and reasonably priced holiday. Everyone was very friendly and willing to help. Oh there was a hefty van deposit which we didn't get back until several weeks later, but they did send it back.
Unless things have changed, always having a few small denomination bills on hand for tips is advisable.😀
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Yes, four times in the USA. The first 3 were with Cruise America, which were OK but the last experience was disappointing. The motorhome we hired (from San Francisco) suffered dramatic water ingress on our third night away and it took some very spirited negotiating to arrange for a replacement on our planned route instead of having to return to SF which would have put a severe dent in our schedule.
A short report of that trip is here:
http://www.iansoady.org.uk/USA2009/trip%20report.htm
The last time was 3 weeks in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah in 2013. We used a different company - Moturis / Camping World, booked via Motorhome Bookers:
This was a far better vehicle in excellent condition but was more expensive than Cruise America - a total of just over £2,000 for the 3 weeks in Autumn. There were also much better transfer arrangements - we ended up spending a fortune on the California trip as taxis in SF were extortionate! Oddly enough neither rental company included some very basic things like a box of matches....
That was a superb trip taking in the Rocky Mountain National Park (from which we were evacuated because of floods!), Yellowstone and Grand Tetons as well as some astounding scenery.
If we were to do this again we'd definitely go for the Camping World option.
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Would agree with Canadian Affair.
I used them in 2009 but not for motorhome hire.
I went fly drive from Vancouver to Calgary. They did absolutely everything. It was organised from Heathrow and everything after that was unbelievable. We did nothing other then enjoy ourselves.
Would certainly use them again
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Just a word re campsites (or campgrounds as they are called in the USA): we really didn't like the big commercial ones such as KOA which were expensive and more like giant car parks. We used the National Park, Forest Service and State Park sites almost exclusively. These tend to have few facilities but many are in stunning locations and cost only a few dollars a time. On our last trip we were quite often one of only 2 or 3 outfits on a site (and sometimes quite alone which was occasionally a bit unnerving as we waited for Sasquatch to turn up).
But our experience is exclusively towards the West and South West and rural rather than urban areas.
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We organised and planned our trips ourselves as we didn't fancy any of the "packages" on offer - for example, we had no desire to visit Las Vegas or Los Angeles.
In fact the planning was a pleasure in itself even if we didn't always keep to the plans.
I can recommend the Moon guides (one for each state) which are far better than the Rough / Lonely Planet versions. They're widely available from online sellers, often barely used ones for a couple of pounds.
You can (or could) get serviceable road maps from State tourist organisations and national park offices.
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